Stopping Foreman a tough task

Texas junior running back D’Onta Foreman has put together quite the campaign so far.

How good?

Well, in eight games he has rushed for 1,446 yards and 13 touchdowns good for an average of 180.75 yards per game. That number alone would rank Foreman as the 57th best team rushing nationally as Wisconsin currently sits in that slit with 180.40 yards per contest.

Already Foreman ranks sixth all-time in single season rushing yards at Texas trailing Ricky Williams 2,124 yards that he piled up during the 1998 season. The impressive running back has a streak of ten consecutive games where he’s eclipsed the 100-yard mark barrier, one short of tying the school record.

“Everything goes with their back, as we all know,” head coach Dana Holgorsen said. “The nation’s leading rusher, they give it to him 25, 25 times a game and I’ve been on record saying the days of doing this with one back is over. I was wrong.”

The Mountaineers already have had a taste of what Foreman brings to the table as he rushed for 147 yards and a touchdown in the match up last year.

At 6-foot-1, 249-pounds, Foreman is a classic workhorse running back that not only has the size and power to bulldoze over defenders but the speed to hit home runs once he makes it into the open field.

That’s a rare combination.

“When you think of a 250-pound back, you think straight downhill runner. He can get you going in different ways. He can out run you, we saw that last year,” defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said. “He’s special. He’s a really good back.”

The run game is the bread and butter of the Texas offense and Foreman is at the center of it. Stopping him has been something that no team has successfully done since last season and for the Mountaineers to have success they’ll have to rally to the ball and get him to the ground.

“Just being able to tackle him, you just have to be physical. Get him down, that’s it. If I’m making a tackle you have 10 other players that’s running to the ball as well, that’s the game of football itself,” senior cornerback Maurice Fleming said.

Making matters even more complicated is the fact that the Texas offense has taken great strides under offensive coordinator Sterling Gilbert and has moved to an up-tempo style that also has been balanced with true freshman quarterback Shane Buechele adding another element. When teams have cheated up to try to stop Foreman, Texas has shown the ability to go over the top for big plays down the field.

“We have to be balanced on what we are doing and how we are doing it and try not to let him get his pads squared on the line of scrimmage,” Gibson said.

Or it'll be a long day for the Mountaineers defense.